A win – particularly one away from home – is a precious commodity for sides in the bottom half of National League 2 North, so securing a 12-22 victory against Hull was a very welcome yuletide boost for the Birmingham & Solihull.

However, the Bees were guilty of both squandering scoring opportunities in the first half that should have made the margin of victory significantly more comfortable, as well as indiscipline which gave their hosts a sniff of a come back in the final quarter.

The Bees had made just three changes to the side that was narrowly beaten by Caldy the week before. With Rob Connolly switching from centre to No.8, Steve Johns returned to the outside berth. In the front row, Pete Koziot moved to the loose head in place of the injured Nick Bingham, whilst the well-nourished Simon Gardiner – on loan from Moseley – came in at tight head prop.

The Bees scrummaging has been somewhat of a Achilles heel in recent games, so the sight of Hull being shoved back at the first set piece of the game would have brought joy and relief in equal measure to the travelling faithful. Indeed the opening try on the 5-minute mark came as a direct result of pressure at that scrum, with captain Chris Goddard crossing the line from a driving maul with Adam Canning adding the extras.

Although dominating possession in the next ten minutes, Hull’s attempts to get onto the score sheet were frustrated by good defensive organisation and a propensity to turn the ball over in possession.

The visitors then progressively began to exert their dominance in all departments, with the home side increasingly penalised for a series of infringements by referee Rawson. However the Bees spurned a number of kickable penalties in favour of kicking for touch, then failing to score from the resultant rolling mauls. A lack of passing precision in the backs also served to blunt the Bees’ attacking potential.

Canning was eventually given the nod after 33 minutes and duly slotted a penalty, although he was to put a drop goal attempt wide five minutes later. The growing frustration of the doughty fans who had made the 320 mile round trip across the river Humber was somewhat assuaged when the Bees were deservedly awarded a penalty try on the stroke of half time.

The Bees were therefore 0-17 to the good at the interlude, although in truth they should have been out of sight at this point of the game

With the sun setting on a crisp, azure blue winter’s day, Hull came out after the break intent on providing more of contest in the second half. They retained possession much better and camped deep in Bees’ territory for first 10 minutes of the second period. However the Bees defensive shape remained sound, keeping the score sheet clean.

The Hull cause was then to suffer a set back when replacement prop Tom Price was sin binned for being over loquacious and the Bees looked to get back on the front foot, with the ever industrious Will Crane coming close to scoring after an inception and break by Rob Connolly.

The visitors didn’t have long to wait to extend their lead though, as pacey winger Aquile Smith showed his class to collect and score from a delightfully weighted chip through from wily campaigner Rod Petty, playing in the inside centre position. Although Canning failed to convert, at 0-22 ahead with 20 minutes to go, there was an opportunity for the Bees to really stamp their authority on the game in the final quarter.

Sadly this was not to be the case. Two yellow cards – one for Solomon Dacres and then for his second row colleague Chris Goddard - gave Hull both renewed energy and space to score two tries of their own. The first came from scrum half Ollie Hardisty and the second from lock Rob Devonshire, converted by James Cameron, to narrow the deficit to 10-22 and deny the Bees a fourth try bonus point.

Now at the halfway point of the season with 15 of the 30 games of their league campaign now under their belts, the Bees sit in 12th position in the table on 30 points. They are away again next week – this time much nearer to home - at Broadstreet, where they will be looking to avenge a narrow loss against the Coventry outfit in the second game of the season.

Teams

Birmingham & Solihull – Jimmy Oliver, Dai Evans, Steve Johns, Rod Petty, Aquile Smith (T), Adam Canning (1P, 2C), Jack Jolly, Rob Connolly, Mike Stephens, Ashley Scriven, Chris Goddard ©(T, YC), Solomon Dacres (YC), Simon Gardiner, Will Crane and Peter Koziot. Replacements – Andy Kettle, Lawrence Finch, Will Ralph, Matt Williams and Rupert Giles. Pen Try (T).

Hull RUFC – Tomasi Tanumi, James Kirk, Alex Heard, Richard Fletcher, Stephen Hihetah, James Cameron (1C), Ollie Hardisty (T), Ollie Cook© (T), Ben Sullivan, Joe Stafford, Rob Devonshire, Max Alderson, Adam Tamanis, Jerome Trail and Michael Jobling. Replacements – Evi Gray, Tom Price (YC), Will Haddow, Aidan Holland and Ryan Holland.

Referee – Andy Rawson